Move Stuff
by tinedanxer
Summary: Excerpts and deleted scenes and other stuff that for whatever reason didn't make it into the fanfic, "Move."
1. Candle Truths

**This excerpt has no particular place in the fanfic, it's just a drabble I thought up one day. The nameless mech could be just about anyone, most likely an Autobot, but since its identity is not relevant, I did not choose a specific character to fill this role.**

* * *

Candle Truths

Sitting in the dark, holding a lit candle, the little cyborg watched the flame flicker as she slowly passed each finger one by one over it.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

She shrugged. "Not much."

"Why are you doing that?"

Pausing to stare, transfixed, at the small flame dancing in her soft breaths, "Reminds me that I'm alive."

A frown formed on the face of her companion. "Can't you find a less damaging way to remember?"

"_Remembering_ is what's so damaging. The flame only hurts for a moment."

Reaching swiftly toward her, the mech pinched out the flame, rendering complete darkness. "Now you can no longer hurt yourself."

"Yeah, but I can't see either."


	2. original chap 7

Jazz left Bumblebee to guard the little half mech prisoner, explaining that Optimus needed to hear all the girl had confessed. The yellow scout settled back onto the ground before the hanging cage, tinkering with his gun to pass time. Natty laid down with her head in the corner of her cage closest to the mech, left side against the bars, knees up.

The soft click-clack of the Autobot toying with his gun droned on through the night for what seemed an hour before the relative silence was broken by a ponderous voice, her mood having lifted a bit. "When you came to Earth, you came the long way, right? You went past all those stars... _That must have been awesome_." He paused in his tinkering to look up at her. Her left arm hung lazily outside the cage from between the bars, her face turned to the sky.

"I didn't... really... notice."

She shifted slightly to stare at him, "You didn't _notice?_" She was grinning playfully at him.

"I had a mission," he looked down at his gun. "It took precedence."

Snickering she gazed up at the stars again. "You still had to notice _something_. For navigation!" A pause and then a sigh, "Sky says one at these days he's gonna take me out there. _Show me the stars._ One day when we finally get away from this stinkin' war." Her dreamy expression sagged a bit, her voice growing sad, "Doesn't look like that'll happen now."

The yellow scout watched her sympathetically.

"Did you know, " she went on, "That the early human civilizations named the stars?" She turned to peer down at him again; he remained watchful, silent. "They did it so they could find their way back home. They created pictures with the stars--connect-the-dots kinda thing. The pictures are called constellations. Each one has a name and a back story. Neat huh? I don't remember anything like that on Cybertron."

Bumblebee shook his head, "No. Our scientists cataloged the stars according to size, distance, intensity, stage of its evolution... but I don't think any of them have _names_."

"Yeah, your culture's just not that creative."

"We're creative!" he argued. "We have artists, sculptors, dancers--"

"But no one ever named the stars," she cut in wistfully.

"Well... no," he acquiesced.

"And you _didn't notice_ them while you navigated _around_ them?" She was teasing him, it was plainly written on her face. With all that she would be facing in the morning, this showed no small amount of courage on her part. He was impressed. Gazing up at this brave little soul, he found that spunk... endearing.

"What are their names?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"The stars. What are their names?"

She smiled genuinely, excited to speak on a favored subject. "Well... You see that bright red one?" He followed the direction she pointed in, and, locating the star, nodded. "That's Beetlegeuse. It's so bright because it's so close. Beetlegeuse forms one of the shoulders for the constellation Orion, the hunter. Do you see those three stars just below it? They look pretty evenly spaced. That's Orion's Belt, and hanging off the belt is his sword. The Orion Nebula is in there." She stopped for a moment, staring rapturously up at the Constellation. "I've always wanted to see the Orion Nebula in person. Oh, I've seen pictures, and looked at it through a telescope, but I want to _be there. _I bet it's breathtaking!"

"It is." The words were out before he realized he'd said them. Sheepishly he turned to meet her astonished gaze.

"I knew it! You were paying attention!" A wide grin spread across her half mechanoid face. "So--wait--you saw the Orion Nebula? I mean you were really there? _Right there?!"_

He nodded slowly looking as if he had just unmasked Spiderman.

"Wh-What was it like?! Tell me!" She sat up quickly, then closed her eyes tight holding up one hand. "Wait," her tone much more calm, "I've got a better idea." She was gazing at him through slitted eyes now. "_Show me."_

He cocked his confused head to one side. "What?"

"You can show me!" Her voice was calm despite the excitement in her now wide eyes.

"I don't have that capability," He cut in, "Optimus--"

She shook her head vigorously, "No, no, no." Grinning slyly at him, "I have this... _unique_ ability to... link up... mind to mind--if you will--with another mech. It... kinda gives the other mech an energy boost--heightens your senses, strength, weapons, everything. I'm told it _feels_ pretty good too. Anyway, you dig up the memory, and you can show it to me! It'd be just like I was there! I'd see everything through _your eyes_, but the experience is pretty real. And I promise, I won't go through your thoughts... I can't really, unless you let me--and, frankly, I don't wanna get that personal! You see, however much you open up to me... well, that's how open I am to you. I just want to see the nebula."

If he'd had an exposed mouth to hang open, it would be, as the humans say, catching flies--as it was, his jaw was quite slack, pulling his facial plates long, his optics wide. "WHAT?!" he cried incredulously, jumping to his feet. "You want to _WHAT?!"_

"Shh! Keep your voice down! This isn't something everyone needs to know about, if you catch my drift!" she scolded in a loud whisper.

"This isn't something _I_ want to know about!"

"No! No! It's perfectly safe! Really! _Please!_" she was getting quite desperate, "This may be my only chance." The excitement completely washed out of her face, leaving only the fear of losing a dream. "Bumblebee... Optimus isn't gonna keep me here, I'm not Cybertronian, but the humans won't regard me as human either. Captain Lennox will _have_ to turn me over to the military and when that happens... you can count me dead. They'll dissect me for the technology my body holds, all in the name of scientific advancement." The yellow mech already knew the truth of her words from his own experiences, having been locked up by Sector Seven for the same reason. "So... consider this a last request." She shrugged, "Before my execution."

"Execution--that's a little dramatic, don't you think?" She was getting to him despite this front.

"Not really. They're gonna kill me. Maybe not right away, but eventually."

He sighed stepping close to her hanging prison, but staring at the ground. He stood quietly before her contemplating what she was asking of him. On the one hand, it was very unlikely that Optimus would keep a human--of any kind--prisoner, especially one that was potentially a military fugitive. On the other, if she was handed over to the military... well he already knew first hand what they would do, but she would not have allies to barter for her freedom like Sam and the Captain had done for him. It was a small thing she asked for in light of what was to become of her. He lifted his head to gaze into her pleading face. Heaving an enormous sigh, and praying to Primus he wouldn't regret this, he reluctantly agreed.

"Okay. How does this work?"

"I have to touch you. It doesn't matter where, just so long as I can access your CPU. Here, put your fingers through the bars, I'll use your hand." Reaching up he cautiously weaved the fingers of his right hand through the bars of her cage.

"Now," she went on placing her mechanoid palm gently against his larger yellow one. "You won't feel anything at first, but everything around us will seem to have stopped, like we jumped _outside _of time. Don't be alarmed, it only takes a moment for it to catch up. It's just the link being initialized. You'll be able to hear me in your head right away. When time catches up to us, you'll suddenly feel very energized, like never before. Don't get to excited, okay? I'm gonna keep it low powered, 'cause the more I give you, the more _personal_ it gets. At some point it can be like... sex without bodies!" She winked playfully at him, giggling, "But we won't go there!"

Taking a more serious tone, she said, "Ready?" He nodded. "Oh! One last thing--whatever happens, _don't pull your hand away!_ Let me break the link. If you do it, the abruptness will put us both in a world of hurt! Trust me, you _don't_ want to go through that! It's a pain like no other!"

She steadied herself against the bars between them. "Alright, here goes..."

Because there was no one around and the night wind was rather still, the "jumping out of time" part was barely noticeable. As he became aware of her consciousness, he suddenly remembered the connection she had claimed to have with the other Decepticon. A sinking feeling settled in as he wondered if he had just walked into a trap.

"No," her voice rippled gently across his mind. "When I open up this link, it blocks him out. Which is nice, 'cause he was just yelling at me a second ago about revealing this secret," she chuckled.

"Will he tell Optimus about what we're doing?"

"No way! His whole point was to keep this thing a secret. He won't tell anyone. But he'll be screamin' at me when we're through."

A sudden rush of energy went through the yellow Autobot, making him think he could take on even the indomitable Ironhide and win! He could feel her giggling at his surprised exhilaration.

"That's nothing, Scout! Too bad I'm locked up in this cage, I bet you'd like to try this stuff out!"

He felt he certainly would--if his self diagnostics were running correctly, his land speed alone had increased by 30 mph. and his strength output had nearly doubled.

"Imagine what you could do in a fight!" The idea was intoxicating to him. "Want some more?"

He pondered this for a moment, the feeling was so intoxicating, but what was the catch?

"Catch? There's no catch... except that this only works while I remain in direct contact with you. So you have to take me where ever you go, but is that really so bad?"

Jazz would dismantle him if he took her out of her prison, and if she escaped... !

"I'm not going anywhere! Where am I gonna go? I can't leave Sky behind, he's my lifeline--_literally_. As long as he's here, I _have_ to stick around. But that's okay, I don't wanna get you in trouble. After all, you're doing me a HUGE favor and it just wouldn't be right."

"Since when are Decepticons honour bound."

"Hey, I'm not a Decepticon by choice!" Their minds being so connected, he would know if she were lying, but her words rang with truthfulness. He was little surprised at this. In fact, everything about her was surprising. She was so very human and yet Cybertronian at the same time. Her playful personality carried none of the trademark Deepticon maliciousness. There was no blood thirsty nature, no brutality, but plenty of sorrow and regrets. And nightmares. He could feel how every death she had witness or, worse, _enforced, _haunted her soul, tortured her psyche. That, mixed with the push-pull between her organic and metallurgic natures, lent a slight instability to her mind. And there was such a vulnerability underneath her battle toughened exterior, a sweet tenderness to her soul that could not otherwise be seen. It was at once pleasing to sort through her mind and exotic as well.

_"**Stop that!**"_ There was an embarrassed anger in her outburst. "Didn't I say we weren't going to rifle through each others thoughts?!"

He felt a sudden urge to gather her up in a comforting embrace, but she railed hard against the idea.

"I don't want to be comforted! I want to be... !" More calmly, but still stern, "Look, I just wanted to see the Orion Nebula, _that's all_."

"I'm sorry," he replied softly, "You've been through so much I just... I thought you might need someone... "

"Well, I don't! You thought wrong." She was lying, he could feel her need echo along every circuit and connection in his being, but he left it alone.

"You wanna see the nebula?" he asked drawing her into his own mind, wrapping her up in the coveted memory. He could at least do this for her.

The outrage instantly forgotten, she gasped, "Wow," as the image unfolded around her, filling her vision with streaky clouds of oranges, reds, yellows, whites, and blues--all shades of each color. They swirled, and stretched before her, around her, their silent song filling her mind with wonder and awe at the Master Artist's canvas. A handful of new stars sleepily poked their infant rays through the warmed gases, announcing their existence. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared rapturously around her, words failing to describe the raw beauty. She could feel the presence of the Yellow Autobot as if just behind her, watching her react to the majesty he had witnessed so long ago. It was all overwhelming her and if she had been standing she would certainly have hit her knees by now.

"Do you like it?" He asked cautiously. He already knew the answer, he could feel her emotions washing over her just as she did. Taking a chance, he moved closer, and she turned to him quickly, the awestruck expression making her eyes wide, jaw slack. Submerged in his mind, their projected images were nearly the same height--his just a bit taller--and as he studied her face, she seemed pale, near to fainting. Instinctively reacting to this, he reached for her, pulling her up against him in a secure embrace.

Instantly a war began to rage within her, part wanting to melt weakly into the safety he offered, part wanting to fend him off, afraid of what that vulnerability might lead to.

"You don't have to be afraid, Natty. I won't hurt you."

"How do I know that?" she whispered accusingly, still debating her options.

"I can't lie to you here. You _know_ my intentions. I only want to make you feel safe, for once... I noticed you haven't felt that way for a long time." He added a little bashfully.

"I've never felt safe. Not entirely."

"You're safe now." He pulled her closer as if emphasizing the point, his thick yellow arms wrapping around the small of her back. Even here she seemed so tiny, frail, adding to his desire to protect her.

"No," she broke her gaze away from the depth of his bright blue optics, pushing with her hands against his chest armor, but not enough to free herself. Loosening his hold in response, he hoped to make her comfortable with him. "I'm not safe. It's only a matter of hours before Captain Lennox turns me in, and then it's all over for me. How can you call this safe?"

"Hmm," he ducked his head to catch her gaze, and, failing that, hooked a silver tipped yellow finger under her chin to lift her reluctant eyes back up to him. "Natty, nothing can hurt you in this moment, _right now._ It won't last throughout the day, but... _tonight_, you can rest. Let your guard down, I will protect you until the Captain comes." For good measure he added, "It's what I do." But somehow that wasn't quite right, as if there were more he'd left unsaid--a niggling feeling too much in its infancy to be expressed.

She was torn, it would feel so good to just snuggle her tired self against his chest. She could get lost in him for a while, there would be no impending doom, no Decepticons, no war, no prison. But who was this alien offering her a temporary sanctuary? She knew little about him, not enough to trust him. Maybe Sky had been right when he said this was too much of a risk. What would the Autobot do with all he had gleaned from her, strictly personal though it was? And what did it really matter anyway? She was facing almost certain death in the morning. It was the "almost" that gave her pause.

"No, Natty, don't go! Don't break the link! Stay here with me. _Please stay!"_ he was pleading, but she just couldn't do it.

Slipping through his grasp like a phantom she whispered back, "This is too close, too personal... I can't... "

She was gone.

The yellow mech found himself standing in front of her cage as his optics regained their focus, his hand still clinging to the bars of the cage. The little cyborg pulled her mechanoid appendage away, leaving a small cold sensation on his palm in the vacuum left behind. Clasping his fingers tightly around the bars in frustration, he glared at the yellow paint on the back of his hand. He didn't know how long he stood that way before a soft whimper caught his attention. Without thinking it through, he opened the little cage and reached inside. "Natty, come with me," he said pulling her limp form free of the prison. "Tell me about those stars." He cradled her in both arms and, finally, his persistence won out. Though not relaxed by any means, she curled softly into his warmth and let him carry her to the exterior of the barn, where he sat down, leaning back against the structure. The cyborg nestled against him.

_Thank you, Primus--I'll never regret this!_ he prayed, silently remembering his initial concerns.

* * *

Jazz cursed under his breath at the sight of the open cage; Bumblebee no where in sight! But he was even more alarmed to hear his name whispered by the yellow scout from the side of the barn. Turning he expected to see devastation and destruction--the sight before him did not live up to those expectations. The errant mech was completely unharmed, reclining against the side of the barn, something held protectively against his chest.

_"Bee, what is going on!!"_ The silver second raged.

"Shhh. She's recharging, Jazz," came the whispered reply.

"WHAT?! Who's recharging? And WHERE IS THE PRISONER?!" Bumblebee was known for his pranks, but this was just not funny.

Holding up one hand, the scout answered, "She's right here, Jazz. She's recharging."

"Have you LOST YOUR DAMN MIND?!"

"Shh. You're gonna wake her up," Bumblebee hissed.

Jazz stared in disbelief, spluttering various syllables and momentarily unable to form a coherent thought. Shaking his head he began to pace in front of the yellow mech, shooting angry side glances at him. As he paced a slow realization took hold, "Bee... why is she out of her prison, and _why_**--Primus help me--**are you holding her like--like... a _femme!"_

"Oh! Jazz! No! It's not like that!" The scout loosened his hold, letting the young half human slide down from his chest onto his lap, the movement causing her to stir in her sleep. "I... I... promised her I would keep her safe until the Captain comes for her in the morning."

"That doesn't explain why she's out of her prison."

"She was scared, Jazz. And she should be! The humans will label her as non-human and dissect her like they tried to do with me! They're gonna kill her Jazz, if we hand her over to the human military, they'll kill her!" He sighed softly, cradling the sleeping form protectively again, "I just couldn't let her face that alone."

"That doesn't make any sense, Bee. Less than twelve earth hours ago, you were happily dragging her _into_ the cactus on the way over here, and now you wanna protect her from what might--_might_--happen?" The silver mech folded his arms across his chest, shifting his weight angrily. "She's a Decepticon, Bee!"

"She doesn't want to be."

"Give her here!" Jazz growled impatiently, _"I'll_ put her back in the cage."

"But... I promised I'd watch over her until the Captain comes in the morning... " Bumblebee protested weakly, holding the cyborg a little closer.

"You couldn't do that and leave her in the cage?!" Jazz motioned behind himself at the red stained horizon, "It's morning, Bee." The silver mech leaned down and reached for the sleeping figure. "Sara brought a bunch of human food for the prisoner, and the Captain's already speaking with Optimus about her fate." He scooped the girl up carefully, despite Bumblebee's reluctance to let go. "In fact, I came out here to see if she was awake yet, and willing to eat something."

"The Captain's here?" Bumblebee sprang to his feet while Jazz carried the waking prisoner back to her prison.

"Yeah, he's talking with Optimus right now," he repeated. As he placed the groggy cyborg on the floor of the cage he turned to the yellow mech who now stood anxiously beside him. "Bee, the humans that captured you weren't part of the military. They were a group called Sector Seven, and they've been disbanded--"

"No they're not." Both Autobots turned suddenly to face the hoarse voice of the little cyborg. "They've gone rogue. But that's not who I'm afraid of." She took their blank stares as invitation to go on, "It's the scientific community that will want to get hold of me." She wrapped her arms around her legs pulling her knees tightly to her chest. "Did you know that I can't get sick? I don't have antibodies like a normal human," she tapped the center of her chest, "My secondary processor creates these nanobot things that clean out my organic side. They have, like, an intelligence of sorts. Can tell the difference between what's supposed to be in there and what's not. My heart is robotic, too; it acts as both a pump and a filter. It's little things like _that_ gonna get me killed.

"There'll be under the table deals with high ranking officials once word gets out about me. No one will classify me as human, so it will be easy to justify whatever they want to do." She stopped talking abruptly exhaling with a shudder and beginning to tremble all over.

Even Jazz was stunned by her speech. But it was Bumblebee that hissed out, "I can't let that happen," and then _ran_ to the barn, bursting through the doors and into the conversation inside. The small second in command stared after his yellow friend. "What has gotten into him?" he mumbled.

"Where's he going?" Natty asked, but Jazz just shrugged in reply.

After a moment of silence Skyfire's voice broke into the cyborg's tumbling thoughts. _It would appear, little one, that you have made a friend of the scout. Even now, he pleads for your life._


	3. original chap 8

"Optimus," the black Decepticon jet bound in chains, and resting in the dirt floor of the barn, stared up at his warden. "I have told you all I know. Now I ask that you have mercy on her. You know as well as I the extent to which the humans would be willing to travel in order to advance their own technology. It would be considered a necessary evil, and in light of the atrocities she is eledged to have commited, it would seem a fitting end in their minds. Her life _sacrificed_ to save others of her kind. But she is a living being. She should be allowed to live, given the chance for repentance and even redemption."

The tall blue and red Autobot leader bowed his head in thought. He had dismissed the others, Jazz and Ironhide dragging a protesting Bumblebee out of the barn into the morning light. Optimus had knew well the details of the yellow scout's handling and mistreatment by the sector seven personel--Ratchet even taking the time to point out every bit of miniscule damage done to their faithful spy. He resented it, as did all the Earth bound Autobots, but sector seven, he had been repeatedly assured was no longer in operation.

However, if the humans could spawn one such group, could this greedy seed still blossom in other manifestations? The cyborg herself had stated that it was not sector seven, nor groups like it, that she so feared, but rather the scientific community in general. Would the trusted United States military so willingly hand her over from imprisonment to a cruel death at the hands of malevolent scientists? Was there a line that they _wouldn't_ cross and where exactly was it drawn? Was it worth the risk? But who was he to pass judgement on the life of a human?

On the other hand, she had participated in the battles against his own men on Cybertron. She had been spying on them as well as thier human allies. She even bore the mark of the Decepticons and called herself by that very allegiance. Her crimes and atrocities committed were also against his own people on his own planet. Didn't that warrant action on his part, justice for his own? According to the Uniformed Code of Military Justice--the U.S. military's own law book--crimes committed on foreign soil would be judged by the governing bodies of that land first and the U.S. second. In that case, it was his decision alone as to who would control her fate. He was, after all, the one remaining governing body of Cybertron.

"I have a proposal, Optimus Prime." The deep voice snapped Optimus out of his thoughts; he lifted his head to gaze steadily at the chained prisoner still seated on the ground. "You need to destroy both bridges at the same time for the best tactical devistation to the Decepticons. If you were to send a team across the bridge they could do just that. But any Autobots sent through that bridge would be identified before their forms solidified on the other side. They would be deactivated immediately."

Optimus nodded, he could see where this was going, but he let the large mech continue without a word.

"If I were to cross the bridge, I would be questioned, but not destroyed. I could bring an Autobot task force with me under the guise of 'prisoners for the arena' or some other such brutality. It could be arranged for another Autobot team to be waiting in the holding cells in the Decepticon Command Center. We would rendevu with them restoring their armament and together fighting our way out. It would be the sneak attack that Starscream would never see coming. The last thing he expects is _my_ betrayal."

"That's quite a risk."

"With what's at steak, do you have a better plan?"

"No." Optimus's head hung at the admission. "I would have to run this idea of yours past my tacticians. There is also the question of trust. How do we know you wouldn't turn on us once inside the security of the Decepticon headquaters?"

The black mech frowned. "I'm afraid I have run out of guaruntees to offer. You hold us completely at your mercy." He turned his head and heaved a heavy sigh. "I had promised the little one that we would deliver the information you needed to save her world... and then we would leave."

"Leave Earth?" Optimus questioned, suprised.

"Leave the war. Neither of us wants to fight for either side. We both want peace, whatever the price."

"So do I," the great leader whispered, his sad optics downturned.

It was at this moment, Jazz's voice tenatively called through the thin wooden door of the barn in which prisoner and leader tarried. "Optimus? We got a situation back at base. I need ta go sort it out. Wheeljack's latest experiment went the usual way, and damaged part of the med bay. Ratchet says he's gonna do somethin' to Wheeljack that defies all logic, an' I feel th' need for an intervention! If he's able, I'll send Wheeljack out to take my guard shift--that is... if Ratchet don' get hold a'him first!"

Optimus chuckled, "Alright, Jazz. I think I'll head back with you, I have something I want to discuss. Ironhide and Bumblebee can handle things here for a while."

* * *

"You did WHAT?!" Natty yelled furiously at nothing anyone could see. Ironhide and Bumblebee were dumbfounded. She was sitting in the back corner of the cage, bawling and unbawling her fists with an occasional pound to the floor of her prison. With her face turned away from them, she looked much like a lunatic having a screaming match with an imagined demon. The alarmed mechs stared warily with wide optics as she ranted on. "You know, I can understand why you would want to return to Cybertron, since that's where you're from and all, but WHY THE HELL would you VOLUNTEER to land right in the middle of the DECEPTICON COMMAND CENTER?! And WHAT IN GOD'S GREEN EARTH AND PRIMUS FORSAKEN CYBERTRON gave you the idea to include ME in this insanity?!" The two Autobot guards exchanged confused looks.

_Why does Cybertron have to be "Primus forsaken?" _Skyfire answered in her thoughts.

"Because Primus's silver Cybertron didn't come to mind right away! ANSWER THE QUESTION!"

_Little one, I need you to do this. We need to do this. They will never succeed without us._

"Fuck that. Fuck YOU for that matter! What the HELL are you thinking? Landing us BOTH in the middle of Decepticon territory with not a CHANCE... IN... _HELL_... to get out of there ALIVE!"

_Is "hell" your curse of choice today, or are you using it to make a point?_

"EAT ME, YOU CYBERTRONIAN SON OF A BITCH!"

_A most unsatisfying meal. You would likely disagree with my distributions systems._

"AHHHHHHH!" Natty screeched furiously, her face turning crimson with rage.

"Natty, are you okay?" Bumblebee asked cautiously.

_"What?!"_

"You seem... a... little... "

"Psychotic," Ironhide cut in bluntly.

Bumblebee gave him a sidelong glance, "... _off._ You were... talking to yourself."

"No, she was screaming to herself!"

Natty tapped the side of her head, grimacing as the sound of the laughter that surged through her head softly echoed out of the barn. _Laugh it up, ass, _she shot back at her half brother.To the bewildered Autobots she offered only, "Skyfire," as explaination.

"Oh," understanding flickered in Bumblebee's optics, but Ironhide was more perplexed. "She can hear him," the yellow mech waved a hand at his head, "in here. They have a connection." Turning his attention back to the prisoner, "What did he say that has you so... upset?"

"Ever the tactful one are you?" she snipped, "He's talking out his ass! Wants me to go back to Cybertron with him. Idiot. _Suicidal MORON!"_ she yelled toward the barn. "And you've been spawned by one of Starscream's more inane moments of stupidity if you think for one moment that I'm gonna go along with this!"

_Harsh. _She could feel Skyfire's smirk in the tone of their link.

"Ouch." The yellow scout winced at her vehemency. "How, _exactly,_ would you be getting back to Cybertron in the first place?"

"Oh, the brilliant tactician in there wants to lead an attack directly into the Decepticon Command Headquarters _itself _via the space bridge."

Both mechs stared in suprise.

"Yeah, exactly. That's what I said," she gestured one hand helplessly. With a sudden urge to change the subject she asked, "Who's this Wheeljack character, and what does it mean when someone says his 'experiment went the usual way?' "

* * *

It was a changing of the guard in a way. Ironhide took Captain Lennox to work at the Autobot's base, and Bumblebee was out with his own charges Sam and Mikeala. In their place two new faces studied the small prisoner in her cage hung from a high branch in the old tree.


	4. original chap 9The Card Game

**This was alot of fun to write! Difficult, but fun! Too bad it didn't fit. :( **

**The Card Game.**

Natty stood against the bars of the softly swaying prison, grapsing one in her right hand and lifting the other hand gracefully above her head. Bending backwards at the waist, she lowered her self into an inverted "L" shape singing out, "I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero till the end of time!" Raising herself again, she switched hands and stretched backward in the opposite direction, repeating the move, "He's gotta be fast, and he's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be larger than life!"

Jazz chuckled, "You'll need more than that to get out of there."

Turning her head in his direction, she scrunched her face and crossed her eyes at him.

"Huh," was all he said, but his expression was mildly suprised confusion.

Letting her free arm go slack she cried out, "I'm so bored! It's so terribly boring in here!" She straightened again, holding the bars with both hands and using them to jerk her body lazily back and forth, "At least the Decepticons torture their prisoners with activity." Smirking, "They keep it interesting."

"I could put ya to work."

She scrunched her face once more, this time in distaste. "No thanks. I'll just stay bored." She plunked down on the floor and slipped her legs between the bars to dangle in the air.

Jazz shook his head, "I just may do it anyway."

"Nah," she grinned wickedly out at him and sung, "Falls, apart, from the very start, It falls, apart, seems like everything I touch, Falls, apart, everything around me!"

"We'll see 'bout that," he returned with a wistful smile, eliciting a fake pout from the little cyborg.

Settling down in the grass where he could easily keep an eye on the prisoner, the silver mech pulled a deck of oversized cards from his subspace. Natty watched intently as he set up for a game of solitaire. "You play spades?"

He looked up with a sly smile, "I've heard of it."

"It's kinda like hearts. But opposite."

"Last time I played spades with a human, let's just say, she ended up gettin' carried out of the room."

"That a challenge?" Natty grinned with mischeif.

"Well... we only got two players."

"That's okay, we throw away half the deck. Makes it more interesting 'cause you can't count the cards."

"Hmmm." He cocked his head to the side as he considered this. "You're on."

"You are _so_ goin' down!"

The silver mech chuckled as he stood and walked toward the swinging cage. Unhooking it from its captivity in the tree branches, he returned, "I'm the Autobot's second in command, in case you forgot. Tactician by necessity."

"I'm an ex-Air Force crew cheif, 'non-er.' _You're goin' down!"_

He set the prison on the ground, then took his previous place in the grass. "We'll see 'bout that, sparkling."

"Shuffle the cards, can opener."

Skillfully separating and joining the cards in a graceful dance despite his large hands, he returned in a wicked tone, "This can opener 'bout to open a can of whoop-aft on your little Decepticon... " he glanced over at her, "... butt."

She laughed out right at his obvious word change. "What. Ever. Eimsl!"

Scowling playfully at her, "Girl! What kinda nonsense you talkin' over there?"

"Eimsl. English is my second language."

"More like my four hundredth," he shot back.

"Various Cybertronian dialects don't count as separate languages," she returned lightly.

He brushed off the jab. "How do we deal this."

"You draw two cards. Look at the first one. Keep it and discard the second without looking at it, or discard it and keep the second. That way, we don't know for sure what's in play."

He nodded setting the deck of cards easily within her reach. "You first."

"Ladies before trash compactors."

"I was thinking ugly before style," he smirked gesturing to his glittering silver paint.

"Ooooo," she moaned with a wince, drawing a card. "Ouch." Discarding the second card, she looked up, "Go, Eimsl."

"That all you got?" he said reaching for a card.

"That's all I need."

" 'At's what you think," with a devilish smirk.

Approaching the ongoing verbal battle, Wheeljack cheerily piped, "Oh, card game. Whatcha playin'?"

Without looking up, Natty rapidly fired off, "Stupid-say-what?"

Jazz shook his head laughing, "Damn, ain't _nobody_ safe!" Natty grinned up at the silver mech with a wink.

Dumbfounded at the exchange, Wheeljack fell for the line, "What?" eliciting racous laughter from the two already engaged in the heated game.

Sidling up behind Jazz and peering over his shoulder, Bumblebee excitedly said, "Looks like two-handed spades. Wanna make it four?"

"Boy!" Natty shot at him, "We just divided up the deck, you come in here all "wanna make it four?' " she mocked him in a whiny high pitched voice. " 'Sides, you don't want in on this. Get your ass mopped all over the floor!"

"I can hold my own," he narrowed his optics at her, "Jack's the one that needs to be afraid," inclining his head to the inventor.

"Who Sparky?" The other two mechs chuckcled at that, "Yeah, this is way outta his league. But then there's always the danger the deck might explode in his presence, so I guess it's even."

This caused more chuckles and sidelong looks toward Wheeljack, who huffed back, "I only blow up things I invent. Playing cards are a purely human thing!"

"Ah-ight," Jazz quipped, "You think you're mech enough... "

"I'm mech enough. Deal me in."

"Bring it!" the yellow scout clapped his three fingered hands together in anticipation, as Jazz collected the cards and reshuffled the deck.

Natty glared at Jazz a moment, "Who you wit?" quoting a famous comedian.

"I got Jack, you take Bee."

"Fine," she shrugged, "any subsequent explosions can stay on that end then."

Picking up the cards tossed to him, Wheeljack shot a devious look at the little cyborg, "You know, you're gonna need repairs one of these days," under his breath, _"ya little glitch!" _

"God I hope not; it may be the death of me!" her fingers came together in front of her face and then quickly separated, mimicking a bomb's concusion. Much snickering followed from the other two Autobots.

"Besides," Wheeljack went on lightly, "I'm Jazz's partner, I gotta sit next to _you!"_ He leaned close to her with the last word, emphasizing his point, glittering blue optics holding a bit of maliciousness. Giving her a playful wink, he sat back up and arranged his cards.

Tossing her cards in the air, she rolled onto her back from where she sat in the cage, moaning loudly. Jazz picked up one of her cards and threw it at her head with, "Hey! You playin' or not?"

She sat up quickly and gathered her cards, ignoring the trio of impatient optics. "High or low, scout?"

"I can go either way, what about you?"

"I ain't askin' 'bout your sex life, fool. Just wanna know if you're going high or low. I prefer low myself. I work better that way."

"I can see that," Wheeljack muttered.

"You mean you _wanna_ see that!" She shot back with a sideways grin at the white mech.

"Not particularly," he shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring her gaze.

"_I_ wanna see that," Jazz mumbled, getting an elbow jab from Bumblebee. "What? You want in on it?" The camaro shook his head and turned back to his cards, "You really _do_ go either way, don't you?!" The yellow scout gave him a hard shove and nasty look. Chuckling, he shot back, "I can roll like that!"

Natty laughed at the display, "Look at that, their fighting over me!" Running a hand over her braided hair, she went on, "I must be giving Tracks' ego a run for his money!"

"Energon," Wheeljack responded, "Tracks doesn't carry money."

Natty scrunched her face and stared at the green striped white Ferrari. "Keep up with the jokes."

"_Go_, Natty. Keep up wit da _game!"_ Jazz insisted.

"What the hell is that?!" she yelped looking at the cards played and casting a glare on Bumblebee.

"I didn't have anymore in that suite."

"So throw a spade!" she huffed. He shrugged. "You're supposed to be throwing high! How am I supposed to go under if you throw off like that! Man, Screamer's right! You just can't trust an Autobot!"

There was a sudden stillness in the air, all three Autobots staring in hurt suprise at the cyborg, Bumblebee with wide, stricken optics. Jazz emitted a low whistle. Wheeljack froze, unsure of how to take the spiteful words.

Looking up at the trio, Natty took in the reaction of each in turn. "What?" Not comprehending the offended quiet, she softly prodded Jazz, "It's your turn."

The rest of the game was played in relative silence, and the small prisoner was increasingly confused at her partner's sudden ineptitude, fumbling every hand in a game they had initially been winning. As the last cards were tossed out, she scowled at the yellow scout who refused to look at her, glaring instead at the grass in front of him. "You did that on purpose! You _made_ us lose!" she groused.

Bumblebee said nothing, but his optics narrowed even more, his face hardened with anger and hurt. Swiftly he jumped to his feet and stormed away.

Dumbfounded she turned to Jazz, who just shook his head. "What just happened?"

"Are you that stupid?" The sliver mech snapped gathering the cards, but also refusing to look at her, disgust written all over his face. Wheeljack slowly rose, passed a disdainful look over her, and walked after Bumblebee.

"Stupid?" she sighed. "What did_ I_ do?"

"After all he's done for you, you're gonna go an' make a dumb-aft comment like that! You really are stupid."

"Like what? What did I... Oh. _Ooh_," realization dawned on her. "I didn't even think about it--I mean, the Decepticons... well, I'm just so used to talkin' like that I didn't even... "

"_Think,_" Jazz finished for her, fixing her with a harsh glare. "That was wrong, Natty. Jus' plain wrong."

"I'm sorry. I mean, well, I don't really, but... I... " she clamped her mouth shut to prevent saying anything more damaging as the silver mech's face had hardened increasingly with every stumbling excuse she tried. Exasperated, she gave up. "How do I fix this? How do I make it right, Jazz?"

He vented a weighted sigh turning his attention back to the cards, "You c'n start by apologizin' to me an' Jack. But Bee... he may need some space first. What you said really cut him deep. That one'll take time." He fixed her with a pointed look, "_And_ an apology."

"Tell him I'm sorry, Jazz? Tell him... tell him I didn't mean it? Please?" she pleaded with the second in command.

He seemed to be blinking contemplatively at her behind the silver visor.

"Jazz, _please_. Talk to him for me. He's... he's been... the only... I... " Natty hung her head unable to get the words out.

"He's not the _only_ friend you've got Natty. We all consider ourselves your friends. But he's like a best friend to you ain't he."

She shrugged at first, but Jazz's no nonsense gaze forced her to admit it with a nod. "He.. his efforts... mean alot... to... to me." She couldn't look up from the ground, couldn't believe she'd managed to say it--_out loud!_ What was that yellow scout doing to her! "I didn't mean to... hurt him."

"What about me?" the silver mech huffed in mock offense. He grinned warmly when she tenatively glanced up at him. Jazz always had a way of breaking a soul out of its misery.

"Ack!" she teased, "You can hurt till your armor rusts off for all I care!"

"Oh, ah'ight! That's the way we gonna play it!" He laughed as he picked up the little prison and hung it back in the tree. He glanced down at his hands and then back up at the little prisoner. With what appeared to be a wink from behind the visor, "I'll talk to him for ya."

As he strolled away, she softly called to him, "Jazz," he paused and gazed at her over his shoulder, "I'm... sorry."

He smiled reassuringly, "I know."


End file.
